Visconti Homo Sapiens Steel: Ink In Barrel?

[NomadSteve]

Hi friends,

 

I purchased a VHS steel 25th anniversary edition second-hand earlier this year. I've had a persistent problem where the pen seems to sweat or bleed ink, NOT around the nib unit itself - I know that's the old problem, which I don't have at all on this pen. Rather, ink seeps out around the metal accent ring just above the grip section, where the opening of the cap rests when the pen is capped - the ring that has "HOMO SAPIENS" printed on it.

 

In other words, ink has somehow gotten into the barrel around the converter. I've only ever filled the pen from the traveling inkwell that came with it, which is what's recommended, but I almost wonder if the upside-down filling from the inkwell is somehow causing a little backwash of ink down past the nib unit and around the converter...though I'd HOPE there'd be better sealing inside the barrel around the converter.

 

I've tried, as best I can, to flush in and around the captured converter. I've unscrewed the nib unit to get in there. I once even accidentally removed the blind cap that operates the converter itself, and flushed around the converter with some clean water and took a startling amount of ink out. But there still seems to be some ink in there because every once in a while, my fingers stain where they rest right along that ring. Oftentimes in a color other than what's currently in the pen!

 

SO: anybody else experienced this? Any tips or advice?

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

-Steve